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I don't think it's racism. It's just that people have their preferences. There aren't too many white people who are going to line up at Park to go to the Lebron James birthday blowout to pour bottles of Muscato all over scantily-clad women as "Ball So Hard" plays in the background. And there aren't too many black guys who want to stand around nervously with a Yuengling in hand while waiting to approach a group of girls as rock music plays in the background.
This is also what I mean. Nothing will ever not be mutually exclusive to a race, such as things you mentioned. Not as much being mutually exclusive, as it is a trend, a pattern.
In my experience, racial harmony can be found even where there is little diversity.
Yes, if "racial harmony" means "lack of overt racism." By that standard, I would say that all major American cities are harmonious. When I was in Dallas, nobody came up to me, spit in my face, and said, "Go back to Africa, monkey!" When my grandmother was still alive (who was Jewish), she never encountered any hostilities in her travels in the U.S. I don't think there's one city that can lay claim to "most racially harmonious city" because the country as a whole hasn't experienced too much overt racism in the past few decades. Covert racism, on the other hand, usually comes in the form of snide remarks. Then there's racism directed by one minority group towards another that tends to go under the radar.
Last edited by BajanYankee; 01-03-2012 at 09:35 AM..
Toronto is the centre of the universe when it comes to getting along well with people of other races and cultures - In Toronto we even get along well with people that we do not like...cos - we have class - and are a world class cultural miracle.
I can't think of any place in the U.S. where blacks, whites and Hispanics really socialize together in great numbers, attend the same churches, go to the same nightclubs, etc. This would be "harmony" in my view.
In other words, a 'melting pot'?
That doesnt mean that places that are more of a 'salad bowl' can't be racially harmonious as well.
I know, cause I live it.
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But if "racial harmony" means a lack of overt racism, then I'd say that that constitutes the majority of cities in the U.S. Even when I volunteered in Mississippi after Katrina, I didn't see any white guys in pick up trucks waving nooses in front of me. The people there were very nice, actually.
Just because people of different races have different interests in music, churches and nightclubs doesnt make them overtly racist and/or incapable of being accepting of those who are different from them.
Just because people of different races have different interests in music, churches and nightclubs doesnt make them overtly racist and/or incapable of being accepting of those who are different from them.
That's not what I said. I said that pretty much every major American city is racially harmonious (especially if that means a lack of overt and apparent racism).
That's not what I said. I said that pretty much every major American city is racially harmonious (especially if that means a lack of overt and apparent racism).
Oh, I happen to agree with you on that.
I have been pleasantly surprised time and time again how my preconceived notions about places I thought might be filled with racist people have turned out to be filled with very friendly people in my experience.
I have been pleasantly surprised time and time again how my preconceived notions about places I thought might be filled with racist people have turned out to be filled with very friendly people in my experience.
Well, the assumption that people always have is that racism is directed by whites towards everybody else. And that's not always (and rarely ever) true. People expect to go to Mississippi and see the Klan lynching a black man. In the meantime, they complete overlook the prejudice of the South Asian store owner towards Mexicans. Or the hostility of blacks against Mexicans and vice versa.
Well, the assumption that people always have is that racism is directed by whites towards everybody else. And that's not always (and rarely ever) true. People expect to go to Mississippi and see the Klan lynching a black man. In the meantime, they complete overlook the prejudice of the South Asian store owner towards Mexicans. Or the hostility of blacks against Mexicans and vice versa.
This is a really good point. The main thing that makes white racism so odious is that for the most part white culture, standards of beauty,etc. rule American media,making anyone who isnt white feel somehow "lesser.". But that doesn't mean that one U.S. minority group can't be downright hateful to another in a way that most white people have learned to dial down even if they feel it.
White people have the luxury of being benevolently racist (considering non white people lesser but being kind and "tolerant" of them) because our culture provides lots of support for the idea that white is "better" even if it is not done in an overtly hateful way. Black women are encouraged to straighten their hair, Band-Aids and pantyhose are made to match white skin, etc.
Whereas if you are part of a group that is made to feel lesser, there is nothing to encourage you to be "benevolent" to another group; in fact sometimes being hateful and contemptuous of another minority group is the only way some people can feel superior or worthy in a culture that constantly reminds them they can only ever have the "sidekick" role in the movie of life.
This is changing, but not as fast as I would like. I don't want to see us all melt together into one homogeneous culture; I'd just like us to start seeing different as cool, not scary or threatening or offensive. You can hold on to your English or French or German heritage even if everyone else in your neighborhood speaks Spanish. We white folk need to be secure enough in our identities that even if we are not always the majority, we can still feel that it is okay for us to be who we are and our neighbors to be who they are.
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